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Hi folks,

I started using TBL in my genetics class this fall, and had wonderful
team rapport for the first time EVER.  Yey!  However, I have avoided
public posting of team scores for many of the reasons already stated
in this topic thread.  I've also read (or I think I've read) that
such competition can be particularly disconcerting/disadvantaging to
women and some members of groups that are traditionally
underrepresented in biology.  Can anyone provide more insight into
studies that assess the impact of competition in the classroom on
specific groups of students?

As a compromise, I've posted the class's individual RAT average
compared to the class's team RAT average (often quite a bit higher).
The students already know that they are doing better individually as
a result of the group work, but I think it causes even more buy-in
when they can see that the phenomenon is class-wide.   As I said, the
team cohesion in this class was quite remarkable, so I don't think we
missed much by not fostering inter-team competition - but perhaps it
was an unusual class.

Tammy Tobin-Janzen
Susquehanna University


On Feb 6, 2006, at 10:44 PM, Francine Glazer wrote:

> I just had a student voice a similar concern tonight.  She was
> uncomfortable with her team's score being up on the board (her team
> had
> not done as well as the others, and she did acknowledge that was
> part of
> her discomfort), and especially didn't like the feelings of
> competition
> it created in the room.
>
> I explained to her that I am trying to foster inter-team
> competition to
> help the teams pull together, and said I'd think over her concerns.
>
> I'm thinking that I can perhaps post the team scores on the board
> without team names - that way each team has more privacy re: no one
> else
> knowing which score is theirs, but each team gets to see how they did
> relative to their peers.  Have any of you tried something like
> this?  Do
> you think it will have the same effect on team cohesion as would
> posting
> the scores with the grades?
>
> thanks,
> Fran
>
>
> Rosemary Thackeray wrote:
>> Has anyone responded to a student comment regarding the posting of
>> team
>> RA scores on the chalkboard is a violation of FERPA laws?
>>
>> Thanks,
>>
>> Rosemary Thackeray
>>
>> Brigham Young University
>>
>
> --
> Francine S. Glazer, Ph.D.
> Professor, Biological Sciences
> Kean University
> Union NJ 07083
>
> Ph:  908-737-3661
> Fx:  908-737-3666
> http://www.kean.edu/~fglazer